


for every time you want to kiss me

by Swordsandthings



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22146157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swordsandthings/pseuds/Swordsandthings
Summary: It feels as if everyone has moved on and Jerry is the only one that was left behind. When Anne invites him to celebrate her 17th birthday he ends up getting closer to a person he never thought he would be close to.
Relationships: Jerry Baynard & Anne Shirley, Jerry Baynard/Cole MacKenzie
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

"I still don't get why I'm going,"

  
“Dont be silly!” Anne stopped arranging her hair. “It's my birthday and I want you to come with me," The answer still didn’t satisfy Jerry but he decided to not pester Anne any further. He supposed she had invited him because Gilbert was out of the country and Diana was busy finishing an essay she had to deliver the following week. All of her other friends had invited her for a morning gathering. The only thing Jerry had done was pick some pretty flowers and give them to Anne. He had been thinking about offering her a book but he hadn't know what to get her.

  
When Anne was ready she quickly pulled Jerry out of the house. The man wondered if he should've changed his clothes. He had been working all morning and he hadn't had the time to do so. He knew he was going to stand off among the people that walked Charlottetown.

Anne paid for Jerry’s ticket even though he was sure he had the money to buy it. The train ride was uneventful. Jerry loved to watch the scenary drift off and for a while hr felt himself relax while watching it.

  
The train ride came to an end and Jerry let himself be led by Anne. They stopped in front of a luxurious house, it wasn't the first time Jerry was there but every time it marveled him. Anne knocked at the door and in seconds someone opened it. The person stepped out and hugged Anne tightly.

  
“Happy birthday!"

  
“Oh Cole, how much I’ve missed you!"

  
“Please, you’ve been seeing me more often than not," The hug finally broke and Anne drew away from Cole to pull Jerry closer to them.

  
“Cole, I imagine you remember Jerry,” She gestured to Jerry. “and I imagine you remember Cole.”

“Of course I do! In fact, he was here last week." the man looked at Jerry. "You've gotten taller," Cole said with a smile

"Right, Marilla and Mathew came visit aunt Jo to discuss their contract."

Jerry couldn’t help himself from smiling back even if a bit more hinged. Cole smiled in a genuine way, kinda like Anne. Jerry felt a bit awkward not really knowing what to say. He was trying to keep himself from talking, usually when he did around rich people he felt like nonsense was all that came out of his mouth, especially around people that had more knowledge than him. Thankfully Anne and Gilbert never judged him for it.

“Well, why don’t you come inside for a bit. Maybe eat. I suppose the train ride must’ve left you hungry?”

  
“Not really,” Anne was cheerful while they walked inside the house, room after room. Jerry was mesmerized by the decoration around the place. There were paintings on almost every wall and every room had at least one arrangement of flowers.

  
“You have to at least talk with aunt Jo.”

  
“That wasn’t up for discussion either,” Jerry kept following them as they met with an older lady. She was lovely and Jerry wouldn’t mind spending an entire day talking with her.

  
The lady took them to a room that was filled with sunshine, there were windows on most walls and plants on every available space. In the middle of the room was a table made of dark wood, on top of it were several pastries and a variety of teas. They sat around it and the hosts started offering them the treats. 

  
Jerry followed all the etiquette rules his parents had taught him. In a couple of minutes he noticed that no one was really following them so he decided to proceed a bit more carelessly. He ate a tiny piece of bread that had a layer of a pate and lettuce. Jerry kept trying the foods but he actually hummed out loud when he tasted a croissant with peach jam and tiny cherry pieces.

  
“I could marry whoever cooked this!”

  
“Then I'd say yes,” Cole smiled while Anne and Josephine laughed. Jerry’s eyes widened and his cheeks got a pink tone.

  
“Well you really are skilled,” Jerry complimented, he was lost and had no idea of what to say.

  
“I have practice when it comes to making jams from when i used to live with my mom. Here I have learned several things about cooking too, with the maids.” The conversation started flowing again, with Anne telling Cole about Mary’s recipes and how she could teach him some too.

  
“I don’t want to take anymore of your time,” Josephine declared as she took another sip of her tea. The conversation had slowly started to decrease just like the amount of food.

  
“We do need to get going to the museum,” Cole agreed as he took a look at a clock. They left the table and stopped by a bench that was on the entrance. Cole started tying his shoes. Silence took over the already suffocating room. 

  
"I've never been to a museum," Jerry stated lowly. “Am I not a underdressed to go to one?” He tried to fight against his reddening cheeks. He heard his mother’s voice remembering him that there was no reason to be ashamed of being a hard-working man, even if that left him with clothes that were slightly dirty and sweaty hair.

  
“Before coming to live here I hadn’t ever been to a museum either,” Cole shared. “I think I have a jacket on my bedroom that might fit you.”

  
Jerry was holding his hat. It had a hole that had been growing for a while. “Duh-Do you think you can bring me a hat too.”

  
The blonde male looked at Jerry’s hat, then he looked at his face and smiled, “Sure.”

  
“I really don’t think I should go," Jerry told Anne when the other man was out of earshot.

  
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Anne’s face softened as she looked at her friend. “I know it feels weird to enjoy things that are supposed to only be enjoyed by the rich, especially when people try to bring you down as if you're worthless. You deserve to enjoy art just like anyone else. But if you feel too uncomfortable, tell me and we’ll go away.”

  
“Thanks, Anne.” 

  
Cole came back, holding a grey jacket and hat. When Jerry put them on he gripped the edges of the jacket, Anne looked at him with a questioning look as her friend followed Cole’s back with his eyes.

  
Leonard gave them a ride to the museum, Cole already had their tickets so they entered the building easily.

  
Every single room had wooden floor, most had light walls so the viewers focus could be on the paintings, still there were some rooms whose walls were covered in intricate wallpapers.

  
Cole and Anne would stare at the paintings for long minutes. Jerry tried to imitate them though must times he would look at the art pieces and imagine the scenary drift off. Anne was sharing her thoughts on a specific painting and Jerry decided to join her, just to play with her a little.

  
“Well I think that man looks ready to die. He would probably be more entertained if he were the one running like a goose.” Anne rolled her eyes and Cole stiffed a laugh, “C’mom Anne, it’s not that poetic when you realize that the man is not even going to bat an eye as his wife is being attacked by a goose.”

  
When they were nearing the end of the exhibit they entered a division that had a glass roof. Jerry went to the middle of the room, looking up, he saw a flock of birds fly by, minutes later drops of rain fell on the glass. When he got back to himself he saw that both Anne and Cole had been mimicking him.

  
“I guess it’s going to rain,” As minutes passed the rain worsened and soon thunder ripped the sky. Thankfully Leonard was there to pick them up, this time he had no horses.

  
“The storm was making them distraught, I brought extra umbrellas.” The man gave them two umbrellas. Anne and Jerry walked side by side, for most of the walk they were pushing each other and laughing. The umbrella wasn’t big enough for them but they were still going to have some fun out of it. Amidst the play Jerry slipped on a puddle and he would've fell if it weren’t for Anne and Lionel reaching to steady him.

  
“We really must go,” Anne said as aunt Jo tried to convince them to stay the night.

  
“At least take the umbrella.” Cole handed the black object to Anne.

  
“Thank you, I’ll return it next time I visit you.”

  
“No worries, Anne. Have a safe journey."

  
This time Jerry and Anne tried to share the umbrella instead off pushing the other off. Rain was coming from all side and it was impossible to be shielded from it.

  
At the station they sat down on a bench, waiting for a train. Thirty minutes after, they realized it wasn’t going to arrive.

  
“I'll ask what happened,” Jerry told Anne. He spoke with a man that looked thirty years older than him.

  
“I'm afraid you’ll catch no train today, son, the storm is too strong, theres danger of a tree falling on the railroads.”

  
Anne and Jerry decided to go back to Aunt Josephine. In the middle of their path the umbrella was blown away from the wind. Jerry still tried to reach for it, with no aveil. In seconds he saw Anne start shaking with the cold and he offered her his jacket, it made no difference since it was soaking with water but they had a brotherly bond between them, which made Jerry feel the need to try and reassure Anne.

  
When they arrived at Josephine's house they knocked at he door, shivering. 

  
“Oh my!” The maid said as she let them in. Quickly she hurried to a room calling for someone. Cole emerged from the room, a glass with a dark drink inside it. He gave a tiny laughed as he saw his drenched friends.

“We did warn you.” He left the cup on top of a tiny table and Aunt Josephine joined them on the hallway.

  
“Dear! You are soaking wet.”

  
“I'm going to prepare them a bath. I’ll lend some of my clothes to Jerry.”

  
“I'll tell Genevieve to find something for Anne.”

  
“Sorry for the carpet” Jerry apologized as he saw the water was ruining the decoration.

  
“Don't worry about that now.”

  
They went up the stairs.

  
“This is so unfortunate, I was hoping I would be able to spend the weekend in Green Gables. Actually I miss sleeping there in storm nights. It gives the meadow a mystical atmosphere!”

“Don't worry, Anne, you’ll have more weekends,” Cole tried to reassure his friend.

Now that she was studying in Queens she rarely got to visit her home, she sent them letter regularly but it would never be the same thing.

“Can you wait here for a bit?” Cole asked Jerry. The later simple nodded.

  
Cole entered the bathroom with Anne, to help her with the bathtub and give her the products she needed. “Someone will bring you towels and clothes in a while,” He told the woman as he left the room.

  
Then Cole lead Jerry a bit more down the hallway. They entered a big bathroom, it had marble tiles. There was a big bathtub near a wall, besides it sat a tiny chair, a candle, a book and a washcloth sat on top of it. In front of the bathtub was a large wooden cabinet that served as support to the sink. It all looked like it was regularly used by someone.

  
“Your hair is long,” The words came out as statement and not an accusation. “I could cut it if you want.”

  
Jerry looked at his reflection in the mirror. His hair was indeed looking long and the ends were starting to split. He secretly wanted to have a long and lustrous hair like the knights in fairy tales. Thanks to his living he had always cut his bangs, it was easier when he worked. He rarely got to bath himself, when he did, it was with cold water and cheap soap. He did what he could but most people still disliked the habits a _barbarian_ like him had.

  
“I don’t know. Can I really trust you with scissors?” Jerry was smiling.

  
“I would do my very best, sir,” They laughed. “If you really want me to, maybe we should get the water running for your bath while I get towels and clothes.” Cole left and came back in less than three minutes. He set the garments by the sink. “Perhaps you should get rid of that wet shirt, you can use this towel to keep yourself warm.”

  
Jerry nodded and forced himself to not feel shy as he took off his shirt, he had so many siblings, Cole definitely wasn’t the first person seeing his chest. As soon as the wet shirt left Jerry's body Cole was wrapping the towel around him. Then Cole emptied the chair so Jerry could sit on it. 

  
All the while Cole was working he was close to Jerry, he could feel the body heat. Jerry tried to stay still, to stop his wild beating heart. The task was definitely harder when Cole was trimming his bangs. He was in front of him, a position that definitely wasn’t comfortable, he wasn’t kneeling nor standing it was a bit between the two and his eyes looked so focused while he was holding Jerry’s hair. The brunette took his time to look at Cole's face, his fine hair and the freckles that adorned his face not as visible as Anne’s. Jerry left his eyes see the curves of his neck, the top button of his shirt was unbuttonned, the dip of his collarbone was visible, he saw him breath, swallow, the muscles contract and relax. As Cole drew back to see his work Jerry willed himself to look somewhere else.

  
“I think it’s good,” Cole smiled, Jerry wondered if he ever did anything else, not that he minded seeing the other man smile, he liked it, made him feel butterflies graze his insides.

  
“Yes,” Jerry tried to still his breathing.

  
“I won’t bother you anymore, then."

  
“You weren’t anyway.” They smiled at each other before Cole left the room and closed the door.

  
For once the silence actually let Jerry breath for a minute. He undressed and went straight to the bathtub, his limbs finally regaining their sensibility. On top of the stool were now two soaps, one was yellowish with chamomile on it and the other was purple with a hint of a lavender scent and bath salts on it. Jerry used the purple soap, he knew daisies were better for blonde hair, he didn’t want to use Coles things disrespectfully. 

  
Jerry’s arms ached a little as he worked the soap on his hair, he had been repairing a fence the other day and as the apple trees started to bear fruit he had to pick them and carry several heavy baskets filled with the same. The soap smelled heavenly, reminding Jerry of the fields his mother described as the ones she had worker at one summer.   
For a while Jerry let himself lean back on the tub, soap bubbles still on his hair, he looked at the objects that had been on the chair, Cole had already placed them there again since no one was using it. The lightning in the bathroom was weak though there were several lit candles. Jerry tried to read the cover of the book, Poems Emily Dickinson. The man hadn’t read poetry yet, he knew his comprehension wouldn’t be good enough to understand what was being said. Still, he remained curious and would like to look at its pages, his wet fingers remained him from doing so.

  
The clothes Cole had left for Jerry were soft. He had already cleaned himself, his hair was still wet, dripping water to his shoulders. The white shirt was thin and not helpful when it came to maintain body heat but there was a wool sweater, soft and warm, Jerry let himself drown in it. Even the underwear Jerry was wearing belonged to Cole, he looked at the mirror and tried to talk some sense into himself.

  
“Why are you acting like this! He’s just guy, you've seen other guys.” He was mumbling. Jerry rolled his eyes at himself, he wasn’t able to find an answer.

  
The hallway was empty and the man was lost for some seconds. He went downstairs but he wasn’t able to found his friends, he did find a nice houseworker that indicated him where Cole's bedroom was. Jerry easily found it and when he entered Cole and Anne had been talking

  
"Jerry, let me brush your hair,” Anne said as soon as Jerry sat on a armchair by the window. The woman got a brush that started working on her friend's hair, after that bath it had become sorta of wavy which was unusual but probably due to his little care.

Cole sat on the armchair that was near Jerry’s, “Dinner will be up soon,”

  
“What will we do afterwards?” Anne asked curiously. She was trying to be careful with Jerry’s hair, brushing each strand once at a time.

  
“We could play a game or dance or paint or read, whatever we feel like.” Silence took over the room after the information was provided. Jerry, like usual, was bothered by it.

  
“Are Emily Dickinson’s poems good?”Jerry asked, which prompted Cole to raise his stare to his face. “I didn’t mean to snoop around.”

  
“They are superb, you should read them one day.”

  
“I probably wouldn’t get them. I didn’t get Frankstein either,” Anne sighed and Cole threw them a questioning look. “I mean i-i only learned how to read recently and I couldn't understand certain things."

  
"Then why don't we try to read it together, like they do in school. Maybe we could do it when you bring the fruits from Green Gables.” A while ago Josephine proposed Marila and Matthew that they brought food for her and in trade she would pay them. Most times it was Jerry the one that came to deliver the food, during those times aunt Jo always invited him to come inside and eat but he felt like he would be overstepping by doing so. 

  
“I would love to but I’m afraid time is not on my side.”

  
“the train only passes every two hours, what do you do to pass time?”

  
Jerry felt himself blush under Cole's stare, “I just don’t want to bother and sometimes I visit Anne and Diana!”

  
“You wouldn’t be a bother," Cole reached for Jerry’s hand to get his attention, he did get it, Jerry’s eyes were wide, “Besides, it has been a while since the last time someone has read a book with me. Dear Anne had been to busy.”

  
“I already said I would read with you when I’m free.”

  
“I know but until then can’t I find a substitute?” A knock at the door stopped their chatting. It was a housemaid informing them about dinner.

  
The food served at the supper was marvelous. Jerry wasn’t used to having that much food during nighttime and he had to hold himself from eating too much.  
Afterwards they danced and heard a radio show, when they got bored of that they played chess.

  
“No! Don’t leave your king unprotected like that!” Anne told Jerry. They were sitting on the floor, Cole and Jerry were facing each other and Anne was sitting behind Jerry, arms wrapped up around his shoulders.

  
“No helping, Anne.” Cole told the girl, then he winked at Cole and spared his king, taking one of his horses instead. Jerry was frozen, his heart beating wild, questioning if the wink had been directed at him or at Anne, if it meant something more.

  
When it was time to sleep Anne proposed they slept together in the same bed. Jerry knew she was doing that for him and he thanked her mentally. The bed was huge and Jerry questioned how could someone sleep there alone. He got to lay in the middle, between Cole and Anne. The man had been staring at the ceiling thinking about his family, hoping the rain hadn’t infiltrated his home when a hand brushed his hair.

  
“Sorry you had something there,” Jerry was now facing Cole, he was holding a piece of lavender, he smelled it giving Jerry a smile and hen he turned around leaving the man to look at his back. Jerry turned around and he jolted a little under Anne’s stare.

  
“Goodnight,” She said with a small smile and both men answered her.

* * *

  
Sun was shining on Jerry’s face, he was blinded but quickly realized he was alone on the bedroom. He softly reached for the pillow Cole had been sleeping on, touching the soft material, he scolded himself mentally for being a creep.

  
Outside the bedroom were Anne and Cole.

  
“What are your intentions with Jerry?”

  
“None?” Cole was wearing a confused expression, the one he put on when he was trying to pretend he didn’t know what people were talking about.

  
“I've seen you around Jerry the entirety of last night, cutting his hair, proposing that he sits besides you during dinner and inviting him to play chess.”

  
“Just because I’m gay you assume I want to get with him?”

  
“That's not it. Jerry liked Diana before as you know and he get so heartbroken by it. I don’t want him to be heartbroken again. Please be careful. “

  
“To answer your other question, he’s cute when he blushes, sometimes he makes nice jokes, that’s all.”

  
“We've all seen how he reacts to you, maybe you should be more careful. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.” Anne started to walk away.

  
“Anne,” She stopped “Guys like him, never fall for guys like me.”

  
“I guess you don’t know Jerry then,” As Anne walked down the stairs Jerry came out of the bedroom, wearing the same clothes Cole had given him the day before.

  
“Good morning, “ he said brightly.

  
“Morning. Did you sleep well?”

* * *

  
The rest of the morning went smoothly. Lionel informed them that the railroads would be reopening during the afternoon.

  
To spend their time they went to the art studio, it was a small room near the library. It had a part to craft sculptures and another part to paint. Cole let his friends run free and try. Anne was making a watercolor painting and Jerry started moulding a tiny piece of clay.

  
“It feels funny,” they were all laughing when there was a knock at the door.

  
“Oh it must be my friend, Arthur!”

  
Arthur was around their age and he quickly started talking with Anne. He was obviously an artist and he was discussing something about a painting with Cole. Jerry recognized a hint of jealousy burn on his throat, minutes ago Cole had been helping him, now all of his focus was on someone else. Jerry wondered if he was feeling jealously or something else, if he ever got someone he would want them to be free and have friends, perhaps he was feeling like this because he wasn’t even sure Cole like him. He wasn’t sure of anything.  
Jerry walked out of the room to a bathroom and washed his hands. He stayed in the hallway for a while, trying to sort out his brain before entering the other room. He had always looked up to Cole whenever he visited him and aunt Jo. He wondered what had happened for his feelings to change like this, perhaps they hadn’t changed at all, they had always been like this. Before it had just been a tiny fire before. Jerry sat down on a chair that was by a window, there was table besides it and another chair. It was lovely place to drink some tea.

  
“Is everything alright?” Cole broke the silence of the hallway.

  
“Yes,” It came out as a mumble.

  
“You can tell me anything, I won’t tell Anne. If something’s troubling you, at least I can help lift off a bit of that weight.”

  
Jerry started fidgeting, “Do you think you can fall in love in one day?”

  
“i don’t know. Maybe so. I think it takes several moments to fall in love with someone, you must at least see that person a couple of times before you know you love them," Cole looked at Jerry. “Is that all?” Jerry didn’t answer and he got up, he was about to leave and Jerry spoke again.

  
“How did you know you liked boys?” Cole smiled. 

  
“I never really liked any girl, I thought there was something wrong with me. Then I realized I had always liked people, boys to be specific, it just simple hadn’t been how people said it would be. “

  
“That's not that enlightening.”

  
Cole smiled upon seeing a frowning Jerry, “Well experiences are different for everyone. You’ve liked Diana haven’t you?”

  
“Yes, I have.”

  
“Then maybe you can use that as a comparison.” Jerry connected everything and easily got his answer.

  
“But what if I like both. I mean, both men and women.”

  
“Then there’s nothing to say. You’re just like everyone else, not more not less” Cole walked closer to Jerry.

  
“Then—can I kiss you?” The blonde male leaned, inching his face closer to Jerry's.

  
“Do you really thing you want to kiss me?” He drew back a bit, Jerry followed him. “We've only been properly getting to know each other for a day," Cole placed his hands on each side of Jerry’s face. “Why don’t you think about it for a month, then if you still want to, you can come back and kiss me.” This time Cole stepped back, his hands were a bit slower of letting of Jerry.

  
“Can I send you letters until then?"

  
“Obviously, why don't you write me one for every time you want to be with me?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I'm only updating now, this is a week later than what I wanted. Unfortunately life got on the way

It was Friday, a week had passed since Jerry had last spoken with Cole. In that moment he was at Green Gables, sitting at the dinning table, trying to write a letter. He definitely hadn’t thought that one through. First, sending letters was expensive and Jerry had been thinking about Cole a lot which meant he wanted to write one letter at least once a day, secondly, his writing wasn’t as poetic as he wanted it to be. He wished he could sing a serenade for Cole, in French preferably. It would make everything a thousand times better.

  
“Hello, Jerry! What are you doing?” Marilla asked as she entered the house, dropping the groceries she had bought on the kitchen.

  
“Writing a letter.”

  
“That reminds me, I still haven’t written an answer for Anne. Would you mind taking it to her the next time you go to Josephine's house?”

  
“No problem Mrs Cuthbert,” Jerry finished writing. Then he went to the kitchen. “I’m going to catch the berries and apples now.” He told the older woman.

On the porch he put his shoes on and Mr Cuthbert helped him with the rest of the tasks on the farm. He also gave him a ride to the train station at the end of the afternoon.

  
“Well, see you tomorrow Jerry.”

The man entered the train and let the rattle of the mobile lull him into a soft sleep. Sooner than he expected he was leaving the train, mind still fuzzy from the rest.

The sky was painted with pinks, oranges and yellows. It had even more colours than that, Jerry wasn’t able to name or even fathom a description for the wonder that were sunsets. Seeing them in the city, hinged their beauty. In green gables or even at his home it was easier to appreciate the beauty of it all.

  
Jerry’s heart guided him to Josephine’s house. A maid let him inside. He stayed in the hallway, waiting for someone get the harvests he was delivering. A while after aunt Jo was there, greeting him and offering him warm bread with butter.

  
“Oh but I’m afraid Cole isn’t here now,” she winked.

  
“What?” Jerry tried to contain his blush. “Well, I left something on his bedroom last time. Do you mind if I go fetch it?”

  
“It's no problem at all,” 

  
Cole's bedroom looked like it had last time. The bed was made, there was a book on the bedside table and a notepad where he drew. The chair by the window had a shirt tossed atop of it. Jerry walked to the dresser. It had a cologne bottle on top and a jewelry box. The letter he had been writing that morning was left there. Then he looked in one of his pockets for a tiny flower he had picked, he was leaving it in top of the letter when a voice disturbed his task.

  
“I don’t think a month has passed since the last time we saw each other."

  
“No, it has not,” Jerry was smiling as he looked at Cole. “It has been one week exactly.”

  
“So what’s the reason of your visit?”

  
“You know why.”

  
“Well for one I know the train is only arriving in forty five minutes so would you like to go to the library and read with me?”

  
“Though you’d never ask.”

  
The library was rather small compared to other rooms in the house. Once you got in it, all you would see were two walls covered by bookshelfs, the other two walls had doors and paintings and lighting. 

  
“We can sit over there,” Cole pointed to a loveseat. He walked to a shelf and looked for a book, while he did that, Jerry was busy trying to get comfortable. “This is one of my favourites.”

  
They sat, side by side. Cole was reading, his calm and controlled voice pulling all of Jerry’s attention. Cole was holding the book with his right hand, his right knee was bended, foot resisting on top of the seat so he could rest his arm in top of the limb. The blonde hair was brushing Jerry’s dark ones, heads almost touching.

* * *

  
The following week Anne went back to green gables. Gilbert was back for a little while too. They had come to green gables to have lunch with Marilla and Matthew. That same day Jerry didn’t have to work during the morning so he was lucky to stay at home and eat with his family. 

When he was about to open the gate to enter the property he worked at a loud sound distracted him.

  
“Jerry!” Anne shouted as she saw Jerry arrive.

  
“So happy to see me?”

  
“You won’t believe it! Aunt Jo is throwing a party next weekend, she invited you!”

  
“Well, hello to you too.”

  
“Come on, Jerry! You must come!” Jerry sighed, he kept walking, he didn’t have a strict schedule, now that daylight was starting to last longer he also had a bit of freedom, still he wanted to get home as early as he could. 

  
“All right, I’ll see what I can do. But this time you have to help me get some nice clothes.”

  
“Don't worry I already have everything planned out,” In fact she didn’t.

  
The following day Anne pulled Jerry to Gilbert’s house. She had promised to help out with the work to compensate the fact she was fetching Jerry for a while.

  
“Im pretty sure I have something that will fit you over here, I can always ask Bash too if we don’t find anything,” Gilbert was shoveling through the clothes he had left behind in his closet. Every other item he found a good piece of clothing and set it aside. “I think I have everything,” Gilbert stated as he got back to his friends.  
He handed Jerry a white shirt, and a three pieces suit. Some of the clothes were a bit short but nothing that was too noticeable.

  
“Its perfect on you!”

  
“It's true, you should keep it. It’s not like I use it.”

  
“Shut it you two.” Jerry took off the blazer, “I'll come here the day of the party and dress it. “

* * *

  
A certain day, Jerry was sitting on the porch with Matthew. Rain covered the growing fields of green gables, still the clouds that carried the water weren’t strong enough to tone down the sunset that covered the sky. Ever since Cole had answered one of Jerry’s letters by talking about his passion with the sunset and how he missed seeing it so vibrantly in Charlottetown, Jerry payed double attention to them. He had also proposed him to have a picnic by the beach one day.

  
Cards were traded as the game between Matthew and Jerry progressed.

  
“I really think the rain is not going to stop anytime soon, you can always sleep here."

  
“You do know that I have walked home with worse weather.”

  
“i know, i-just don’t think there’s any need for that.”

  
Jerry definitely wasn’t emotionally available to sleep there, if he were to do so, he would lay awake the entire night. Sometimes in his own house, besides his siblings, he had a hard time sleeping. He kept thinking about the future, all that would happen and all that would not.

* * *

  
“Arent you excited Jerry?”

  
“Dont you see it on my face?” Jerry smiled as he spoke, Anne rolled her eyes. He was still buttoning his jacket, getting a scarf his mother had knit a couple of weeks ago. It was supposed to be a cold night. 

  
The way to Josephine’s house was uneventful. The path was becoming common for Jerry, the landscape becoming second nature, if he closed his eyes he could see it all unfold.

  
Even outside the house you could see it was buzzing with life. It was well past five still several people had already arrived. Jerry felt immediately out of place, at least Anne and Gilbert were a bit more used to parties, to talking and fitting in immediately. Jerry let himself be led by his friends, greet aunt Jo, get a glass with a drink. All they had was sophisticated, nothing that Jerry had tasted before. He stayed a second longer at the table, trying to figure out what to drink but he chose whatever Anne did.

  
Most people in the room were wearing clothes that were unlike anything Jerry had seen, he had to stop himself from giggling. He was trying to find a place to sit, it’s not like his tall frame was standing off in the room but usually he felt way too tall among everyone else.

  
“What is a handsome gentleman like you doing around here,” Cole, that had emerged from somewhere told Jerry, almost circling him.

  
“Well perhaps I came looking for someone as handsome as me.”

  
“And have you found that person?”

  
“Hes standing right in front of me,” Cole smiled at the man’s words and rolled his eyes. “What?” Jerry questioned him.

  
“That wasn’t smooth at all,” Jerry chewed on his bottom lip. “But you do look nice.” Cole said, gesturing for the other man, a glass of champagne filled with rose on his hand.

  
“Maybe I wanted to look nice for you,” He smiled. They looked at eachother for a couple of seconds, the party kept going on around them. Cole ignored how it all sounded too sugar coated, too perfect to be true. He told himself that he was the only one that was able to make the usual flirter a mess.

  
“Have you seen the garden yet? It looks marvelous, also most of the deserts are there,” Jerry cued at that. Cole streched his hand for Jerry to take it. When they left the room they were close to eachother.

  
There was a long table in the middle of the garden, a variety of deserts covered it. At the end of the table were plates and silverware. Each set of silverware was wrapped with a paper and a wild flower was attached to the front of it.

  
“This was Anne’s idea wasn’t it?’ Jerry smiled as he holded up a set. Cole told him about the several time Jo, Anne and him met to plan the party and how much of the decoration Anne was able to influence. From the tree branches were hanging bottles serving as a base for candles. Every other place were pillows serving as coaches, around those were ribbons with flowers, hanging from tree branches. Jerry questioned the other man if there was any danger of a fire starting, he reassured him that even if one started there were people ready to out it out.

  
“Oh, here! You have to try the pomegranate cheesecake!” Cole started cutting a thin slice.

  
“Did you bake it?”

  
“No, not this time.” Cole cut a piece of the slice with a fork, he was ready to feed it to Jerry but he waited for his opinion. It took him some seconds to realize, pink coating his cheeks and eyes turning wide, then he opened his mouth a little. Cole laughed when it was over, Jerry did too, only feeling a bit more awkward. It was not like people were judging them, in fact people were too absorbed on their own conversations.

  
“You know I’m not a baby?”

  
“Well I do know. If you were, I would have no interest in you,” They started walking again, for a while they stopped to talk with a person Cole knew, there was nothing for Jerry to add to their conversation so he let his mind drift, absorve everything around them.

  
“A marriage would be beautiful here,” Jerry said absently, after Cole’s friend left. Love ran in his mind naturally by now. He felt it with his family, with Cuthberts, whenever he watched Anne and Gilbert and now whenever he was with Cole. The garden was decorated with candles, white ribbons connect several tree branches. There was a lot more to take in but Jerry was like a moth attracted to light, and the sun was right besides him, Cole.

  
“It would be indeed. But I think it’s too early to think about marriage already. After all you haven’t even given me my kiss.”

  
“Oh, so do you want it now?”

  
“Absolutly not, just two more weeks.” Jerry felt his heart flutter, he wasn’t the only one counting the time.

  
“Why one month?”

  
Cole took his time to give the answer,”I just don’t want to rush into anything. Especially when I’m afraid you might not really like me.”

  
“What?”

  
“Im sorry. I really don’t want to call you a list or anything like that. I just fear you might be mixing up things, perhaps you don’t really like me. Do you really think you want to be with a man. You know what people think, what they say—”

  
“I really don’t care about everyone’s opinion. They all say I’m a little gremlin that never baths and is too dumb to think for himself. They think I’m a brute because I’m poor and don’t day the most fancy things. Still, I grew with love and I definitely know to recognize it. When I say I want to be with you, it’s not a lie. Maybe one day you’ll want to leave me or I’ll want to leave you but that happens to most couples, it doesn’t erase the love they first had.”

* * *

  
The words kept repeating themselves in Jerry’s mind. He though everything he had done so far had been enough to show Cole his love. It hadn’t. 

  
He was at home, it was that time of the night were they were shifting from dinner to bed time. Jerry was at the table thinking about what he should write to his lover. His sister was near him, doing her homework. His mind was a mess so he write the only thing he could think of, a series of I love you’d, one after the other.  
“Writing a letter to you girlfriend?” One of Brothers said.

  
Jerry heart heated loudly, “What if it’s not a girl?” His voice was low.

  
His brother took a couple of seconds to answer, “Does he treats you well?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Then that’s all I want to know.” His brother gave him a soft smile, “I hope you also treat him right.”

  
“Who do you take me for!” Jerry laughed with his brother.

* * *

  
The pile of letters Jerry was keeping from his lover was growing. It was the day he was going to kiss Cole, before he left his house he looked at the letters, thinking about their content, the drawings that had been sent.

  
The clothes he had worn at the party were waiting for him at Bash's and Gilbert’s house. Work in Green gables awaited him first so he dressed his usual attire.  
Taking care of the ducks was Jerry’s favourite part. He had some at his home too, it broke his heart to know that whenever one was gone he would have to see it at dinner again, those night he never ate the meat.

  
For the rest of the afternoon the man felt like his skin was buzzing, his heart wild like beating of a hummingbird wings. Even if the sky was filled with dark clouds all day he was still happy. Even when tiny drops of rain started to fall his emotions didn’t change.

  
Last minute Matthew called him to repair a fence that had just been destroyed by a thunder. They couldn’t risk the animals running loose, they tried to keep themselves away from the trees.

  
Jerry left the farm running. It was starting to get late. He knew what Cole was going to think of him if he arrived late. His boots splashed in the bottles and mud filled their outside.

  
Bash already had the clothing ready for Jerry and even wished him good luck. He also offered the man na umbrella but he was not going to risk it with the rain.  
He didn’t even sit down during the train ride. He definitely didn’t want to get the seats dirty and he was too uneasy to sit still.

  
There was barely any sun shining upon Aunt Jo’s house. Jerry bit his lip and knocked at the door. In the matter of seconds it was opened.

  
Jerry looked at Cole, illuminated by the light. He smiled when he saw he was the one at the door. Jerry wasted no time walking in, getting closer to the other man.  
“im sorry I’m late, I just had to help mr Cuthbert last minute and then the train was late,” Jerry spilled everything out, he was breathless.

  
“It seems rain keeps getting you.” For Cole the other man didn’t even need to apologise, he had never been mad at him in the first place.

  
“It does, doesn’t it?” They were both smiling now, Jerry bit his lip absently. “Can I kiss you now?”

  
“Yes,” The man wasted no time, closing the gap. His lips were freezing and Cole did his best to pull him closer, to try and take away the water and the shivering and the coldness. Rain kept pouring outside. When the kiss broke they stayed close to each other, foreheads touching. “Did you run all the way from the station?”

  
“I sure did.” 

  
Cole laughed, “Honestly, I would’ve just walked.”

  
“And have to wait more time for my kiss? No way” 

  
“Lest just get you changed.”

  
“Will you prepare me a hot bath too?”

  
“Yes.” That’s how Jerry found himself back in the same bathroom he had been in last time. Cole helped him take off the soaking wet shirt and blazer, setting them aside on top of the chair.

  
“Can I stay in here with you?”

  
“Please,” Cole looked away until Jerry was comfortable and fully in the bathtub. The rest of the time Cole was either brushing Jerry’s hair or washing it with soapy water, kissing his shoulder and hand.

  
They had dinner with aunt Jo and danced in the living room to the songs that they played. Later they agreed Jerry was staying the night and sharing Cole’s bed.

* * *

  
“Do you want to read some more?” cole was already laying on the bed, holding the book up with one hand.

  
“Sure.” Cole smiled and pulled the covers, making space for Jerry on his lap. The later blushes but walked over to the place, happily taking it. He was wondering how it was going to work out when Cole streched his arms by his side and opened the book, holding it open in front of the both of them.

  
“Do you want to read? I can’t get enough of your voice.”

  
“Oh, shut up,” Still Jerry started reading, he was surprised a little when Cole rested his chin on his shoulder, every now and then he would lay gentle kisses on his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end🍄✨ it was an absolute joy to write this and I would actually like to write more for this pair idk why  
> Thank you to everyone that left a comment and or a kudo I love you all very much  
> Oh and sorry for any mistakes


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